


A Losing Battle

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [42]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, In chapter 2, Soulmates, Teasing, Veela Mates, not really enemies though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 10:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: “It was ridiculous,” I said immediately, “The book I read suggested, well it was rubbish really.”“But what did it say?” he persisted, approaching me.I looked away from him. “It said that the veela appeal doesn’t work on a veela’s –”





	1. A Losing Battle

**Author's Note:**

> This was written years ago, 17/03/2017, and has only been edited slightly since

Looking down at the open textbook in front of me, I twiddled my quill between my fingers, scanning the text meticulously. I needed to complete my Care for Magical Creatures essay or else I wouldn’t be able to go down to Hogsmeade this weekend. Leaning towards the book slightly, my eyes flickered back to the half-filled piece of parchment that was my essay and I sighed. Merlin, I’d never finish it at this rate. Ignoring the sigh I heard from the person sitting across from me, I continued with my essay, my quill moving across the parchment. By the fifth consecutive wistful sigh, I’d had enough. 

Putting my quill down on the tabletop, I finally looked up, eyes narrowing on the distracted girl sitting across from me.

“Alice.”

At the sound of my voice, Alice turned in my direction. Her eyes finally focused onto mine as she wiped the dopey smile from her face at the sight of my narrowed eyes. Giving me a bashful smile, she picked up her quill and returned to her own discarded essay. But she didn’t have me fooled – not even a minute later, she continued to sneak glances at something from the corner of her eye.

“Sorry.” She gave me a sheepish smile. 

“What are you even looking at?” I muttered, looking in the direction that she had been so hellbent on looking in. Once I had found the object of her avid fascination, I couldn’t help but scoff, eyes scanning over the male figure.

Louis Weasley, sat a few tables away from us, unaware of the stares he was receiving from _many _of the girls in the library. From where I was sitting I could see the way his cobalt blue eyes searched the text with an eagerness that could rival that of Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Whatever he was reading fascinated him to such an extent that he couldn’t bring himself to push the hair that was falling into his eyes, away from his face. My fingers twitched with the urge to brush the hair away and I frowned; Merlin, he was annoying.

Making myself look away from Weasley, I turned back to Alice only to scoff at the look in her eyes. She raised her eyes defensively to mine. “What?”

“You have a boyfriend.” I reminded her needlessly.

“I know that, but it’s _Louis Weasley, _he’s just so…” she trailed off, realising that I wasn’t following. Straightening up in her seat, she frowned slightly, “Besides, it’s not like I’m cheating in any way – there’s no harm in looking, now is there?”

“Oh, please.” Picking up my quill once again, I returned to my abandoned essay. “The only reason he seems to have _any _sort of appeal is because he’s part veela.”

“So?” She kicked me gently under the table and I looked up at her with a disgruntled look when my quill scraped against my parchment. Pulling my wand out from my pocket, I removed the unnecessary ink with a quick wave of my hand. “Whenever someone talks about how handsome he is, you always throw a fit. Every single time. You claim to not find him attractive.”

“And you’re point is?” I raised an eyebrow.

“My point is that it’s impossible for you not to find him attractive,” she enthused, lowering her voice as she leaned closer towards me. “It’s scientifically impossible!”

“We live in a world full of magic and you’re trying to preach to me about science?”

She rolled her eyes and demanded, “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t think he’s attractive.”

“Fine!” Putting my quill down once again, I locked my eyes onto Alice and repeated back to her, my voice steady, “I don’t think he’s attractive.”

“You’re lying,” she said quickly, her eyes scanning over my face for any signs of a lie, growing more frustrated when she found none. “But I don’t understand, it’s _impossible.”_

“I’m not lying Alice.”

With that, I picked up my quill and returned to my essay, resuming the sentence where I had left off. Pulling the textbook towards me, I was given a few minutes of reprieve before Alice broke it, her voice insistent. 

“You have to be lying.” I raised an eyebrow as I looked up at her and set my quill aside; there was no way that I’d be able to complete my essay until she’d questioned me to her heart’s content. “I mean not only is the sexual tension between the two of you ridiculous, but he’s veela! That should mean something.”

“He’s _part _veela,” I reminded her, smiling slightly when she threw me a filthy glare. 

“You know what I mean.” She crossed her arms, “You have to find him attractive in some way?”

“I really don’t,” I denied. “I find nothing about him attractive.”

“Now that’s a lie,” a voice remarked casually from behind me. Alice stiffened at the sound of the voice and I couldn’t help but groan. I could just _hear _the smirk in his voice. 

“How long have you been standing there?” Alice asked, voice meek as I heard Weasley approach our table. I felt his hands take a hold of the back of my chair and stiffened, moving closer to the edge of my seat so I didn’t touch him.

“Only long enough to know that Hill here finds me attractive.”

Helga help me! The boy was so completely deluded.

I couldn’t help the small scoff I let out at his words, turning in my seat to look up at him as I did so. He smiled ‘charmingly’ down at me, clearly waiting for me to rise to his bait. He knew me well enough to know that I would. 

“Have you gone deaf Weasley?” I cocked my head slightly, eyes zeroing in on the upward curl of his lips. “I said that _nothing _about you is attractive.”

“Oh, I heard you.” He straightened up, rocking back on his heels slightly. “But don’t worry, I know you’re lying.”

“Of course you do.” I rolled my eyes, “But seriously, where did you get ‘Hill here finds me attractive’ from? Maybe studying so hard has done something to your brain?”

“Oh, I’m flattered Hill – I had no idea that you kept such a close eye on what I’m doing and that you were worried about my health.” He chuckled when I threw him a foul look. “But where did I get it from?” His amusement drained out of his face as he peered down at me with a sincere expression. Merlin, what was he up to now?

“What?” I muttered apprehensively. 

“Oh don’t get scared now Hill. I’m only answering your question,” he remarked quietly, leaning towards me to play with a strand of my hair. I slapped his hand away, registering the way his eyebrows rose in surprise. “Where did I hear your confession of attraction from? From the subtext of your words of course.”

“So you basically found a meaning that didn’t exist,” I replied, finally finding my voice. “Look, I need to finish my essay so can you please go and loiter somewhere else?”

“But only because you said please.”

His lips curved up into a smile as he leaned forward to curl his fingers around another strand of my hair. What was with him and – 

I raised my eyes to his, ready to give him an earful but trailed off at the sight of his unreadable expression. The look in his eyes shifted slightly, scanning over my face before he pulled away. I watched his retreating back in confusion before turning back to my essay. Alice was already waiting and took the opportunity to pounce.

“Did that really have no effect on you?” Meeting her eyes, I waited for her to elaborate. “The look he gave you when he played with your hair; did it not affect you? It reeked of his veela appeal.”

* * *

Weasley kept attempting to use his ‘veela appeal’ on me. And it never worked. 

At first, I had doubted whether such a thing existed, but after some light reading, I found that I did in fact exist and it was apparently supposed to work on everyone. So why was I some sort of exception to this rule? I had spent the last few nights wracking my mind to try and figure out why it didn’t work because I wasn’t quite yet ready to classify myself as a magical anomaly. Besides, as far as I knew, Weasley was probably doing it wrong. 

I was pulled from my thoughts when Alice shook my shoulder, trying to get me to pay attention to her. Giving her an apologetic smile, I followed her out of the great hall as we made our way towards the carriages waiting to take the students to Hogwarts. 

“Is it anything I can help you with?” she asked as we walked out of the school building.

“Sorry?”

“The thing that keeps making you lost in your thoughts?” She explained, linking an arm through mine as we trudged to one of the carriages, “You’ve been really quiet lately and it’s obvious that you’re worried about something. And you never know, sharing your worries with me might actually help you sort out whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

“It’s nothing,” I denied with a small smile. She didn’t believe me and I rolled my eyes, nudging her with my shoulder. “Come on Alice, you know me – I’m a worrier, I worry about every little thing. No matter how insignificant it is.”

“That’s true.” She turned her eyes to me and asked a final time, “So it’s nothing serious then?”

Before I could answer, an obnoxious voice called out, “Oi, Longbottom, Hill!”

We came to a stop and turned to find James Potter jogging towards us. Stopping in front of us, he grinned warmly at us. 

“Before you even ask Potter,” Alice said with a roll of her eyes, “I’m not going to ask Dad to –”

“I’m not here to call in a favour,” he assured Alice as the three of us walked to the carriages. “I’m just here to escort two lovely women down to Hogsmeade.”

“What happened?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, “Did you not manage to get a date for the trip?”

“That’s another matter altogether,” he responded innocently. “And for your information, I _decided_ not to get a date this time, so I could spend the day with my friends.”

“I’m sure you did,” Alice muttered doubtfully from beside me. 

“And here I was trying to do a good deed.” James shook his head playfully, glancing over his shoulder, only to grin when someone else ran up behind him.

“James,” Louis called out, trying to drag his cousin away, “What are you doing? Leave them alone.”

James, rather than answering his cousin verbally, appeared to share some sort of silent conversation with Louis, who seemed very adamant against whatever James wanted to do. I shared a look with Alice and we were tempted to sneak past the boys and head to the carriages ourselves. We tried to do that anyway but were stopped when James broke away from Louis to catch up with us. 

“You interrupted me, Lou,” James called out to Louis who was still rooted to his place, watching us as we got further and further away from him. “Hill and I were just going to have a very interesting conversation.”

I looked up at James in confusion but said nothing. It appeared that the words were all that was needed to trigger Louis into action. He ran quickly, crossing the distance between us and dropped into step beside James. Why couldn’t they keep their family drama to themselves? 

“I’m sure that whatever conversation you wanted to have, isn’t very interesting James,” Louis ground out and I rolled my eyes, ignoring the pair of them as the carriages came into view. I was just about ready to sing Merlin’s praise. 

James cut in front of us before we could board the carriage, hopping on and gesturing for Louis to do the same. Clambering onto the carriage, Louis held out a hand for me to take and I eyed it suspiciously before looking up at his face to scrutinise his expression.

He was using his bloody veela appeal. Again. 

Once it had been pointed out to me by Alice, I found myself able to pinpoint exactly when he was using it – not because I was affected by it (I wasn’t) – but because I could see the change in his expression and the way other people started to act around him. It wasn’t odd for those in the general vicinity to orient their body towards him and sure enough, that was what the others on the carriage were already doing.

“Well?” Louis prompted gently, holding his hand out further for me to take. “Are you boarding the carriage or not?”

Silently, I took the outstretched hand and let him help me up into the carriage. I stopped beside him for a moment, leaning in close to whisper quietly in his ear, “I have no idea what your game is Weasley but you better stop trying to use your veela appeal rubbish on me.”

Weasley, who had been too busy staring at the hand I’d just let go of, looked up at me with the slightest of smiles. His eyes lit up. “So I was right then, it doesn’t work on you.”

“I never said that,” I muttered quietly, heading to sit beside Alice. At this point, I still had no idea what it meant if a veela’s appeal didn’t work on you and I didn’t really want to find out. I would gladly fly under Louis radar for the time being. 

“You didn’t have to,” he responded, sitting down beside James, knees brushing against mine.

I drew my knees closer so they didn’t touch his and tuned him as the carriage finally set off. 

* * *

I tended to worry over every little thing and because I did that, I dug further into the veela appeal matter. Merlin, I wished I hadn’t. I’d rather have remained oblivious to the real reason that Louis’ veela appeal didn’t work on me. But still, the stubborn part of me didn’t believe the words written in the textbook I had just finished reading. Or rather, I wasn’t ready to believe them. There was nothing else to do, I’d have to confront Louis about it. 

Rising from my seat and returning the textbook to its place, I headed out of the library and towards the Ravenclaw common room. Once I was standing in front of the common room entrance I was presented with the issue of actually entering the common room. How was I supposed to answer the riddle?

_What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?_

I stared stubbornly at the brass knocker that was stopping me from entering the common room and sighed, pondering over the riddle. After minutes of standing in pointless silence, I asked sheepishly, “Can I hear the riddle again?”

Hearing it the second time wasn’t any help. 

“Hey,” I called out to one of the approaching Ravenclaw second years, “Can you answer the riddle for me?”

“Why?” the kid asked curiously as she got closer to the common room entrance, “Can’t you figure it out yourself?”

“Would I have asked you if I could?” I raised an eyebrow. “So, will you answer it or not?”

“I don’t know,” she responded cautiously, “I shouldn’t let students from other houses into the common room.”

“Look at the colour on my robes,” I responded flatly, “Do you not see the yellow? What exactly am I going to do?”

The younger girl relented and turned back to face the knocker and asked it to recite the riddle one last time. She pondered over it for a few moments before clearing her throat.

“The answer is a river.”

How on earth was the answer – 

The door to the common room swung open and the younger girl stepped into the common room, gesturing for me to follow in after her. Looking around the common room, I didn’t allow myself to get distracted by the unfamiliar sight and instead continued to search Louis out. But it seemed like there was no need for me to search too hard for him. 

Louis, upon seeing me in the doorway of the common room, rose from where he was sat and left his conversation halfway. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, watching him tuck his hands into his pockets as he drew closer. He smiled in blatant amusement, seeing just how uncomfortable I was growing. 

“What are you doing here, Hill?” he asked when he came to a stop in front of me. “Did you get lost on your way back to the Hufflepuff common room?”

“I came to talk to you, actually.” I crossed my arms defensively, raising my eyes to his.

“Well, here I am, standing in front of you.” He raised his eyebrows quickly, “Talk away.”

“It’s actually a more private conversation,” I trailed off, noticing the way his smile was slowly becoming more teasing at my words, “And _not _in the way you’re imagining it to be.”

“And what way am I imagining it?” he asked quietly, leaning towards me.

“Stop it,” I warned, “I need to talk to you about your … veelaness.”

“Ah,” he made a sound of understanding, straightening up. “Well, follow me then.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, following after him as he headed further into the common room. 

Moving through the crowded common room, I ignored the curious eyes that trailed after my figure. Instead, I focused on the back of the man leading me up the stairs which I assumed lead to the boy’s dorms. Once we were in the privacy of the boy’s dorm, Louis shrugged out of his robe and slung it across his bed. 

“So, what did you want to talk about then?” he asked, undoing his top button and loosening the tie around his neck. “My ‘veelaness’ right, well what about it?”

“This veela appeal business,” I answered quietly, leaning against the wall as I watched him undo the buttons of his shirt sleeves and roll them up to his elbows. 

“What about the veela appeal?” he asked tilting his head curiously as he sat on the edge of his bed. I glanced away from him, unable to maintain eye contact with him when he looked so very … attractive. “Hill?”

“I didn’t believe that it was a real thing until I read up on it,” I admitted glancing down at my shoes. “And when I found out that it was a real thing, well, then I was curious about why it didn’t work on me.”

“Naturally.” My eyes rose to meet his at the sound of his voice, and I couldn’t even bring myself to narrow my eyes at the knowing smile tugging at his lips. 

“Naturally,” I echoed quietly in agreement. 

“And what did you find out then?” he asked, rising to his feet. 

“It was ridiculous,” I said immediately, “The book I read suggested, well it was rubbish really.”

“But what did it say?” he persisted, approaching me.

I looked away from him. “It said that the veela appeal doesn’t work on a veela’s –”

“On a veela’s what?” he prompted, stopping less than a metre away from me when I stopped midway through my sentence.

“A veela’s mate, but that’s so completely ludicrous.” His silence began to worry me and I found myself looking back to Louis who was stood still, watching me seriously. “Isn’t it?”

“Hill –”

“No,” I gasped quietly, “You _cannot _expect me to believe you. Merlin, the book said that the mate wasn’t predestined, Louis. The mate is someone the veela _chooses. _Why the bloody hell did you choose me?”

“It’s not a conscious decision,” he said defensively. “I’d chosen you before I even knew it.”

My mouth parted in shock and I struggled for words. “Well undo it then!”

“I can’t do that.” He straightened up to his full height, closing the distance between us and placing a hand on the wall behind my head. Leaning closer to me, he brought his eyes level with mine, “And I don’t think you want me to either.”

“What the hell do you mean?” I spluttered, willing myself to look away from him but I couldn’t. He wasn’t using his veela appeal on me – it wouldn’t have worked on me anyway – yet, I couldn’t look away. 

“What I mean, is that the choice isn’t made by the veela alone.” One side of his lips pulled up into a small smirk, “If it was one-sided then the veela appeal would still work.”

“What are you saying?” I asked pointlessly; my mind had already worked out what he meant. 

“The bond has to be reciprocal for the veela appeal to lose effect.” 

“Louis –”

“Face it Hill, you chose me too.”

* * *

After somehow escaping from Louis’ presence after the completely overwhelming revelation, I was subjected to the rumours that were circulating the school about the relationship the two of us shared. It didn’t help that Louis, somehow now deluded that I was in love with him, actively sought me out.

“You’re really not helping matters,” I insisted when he sat down in the seat across from me. He bumped his ankle gently against mine, curling our feet together under the table. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he denied straight away, and I made no move to pull my feet away. Instead, I raised an eyebrow at his continual insistence of innocence. Who was he trying to kid?

“Seriously Louis,” I said with a sigh, glancing to one of the shelves that were barely hiding some members of the rather large Louis Weasley fan club. “You need to stop searching me out like this or I’ll get in trouble one day because of something _you’re _doing.”

“But I’m not doing anything wrong.” He gave me his best charming smile, “After all, all I’m doing is spending time with my mate.”

“Would you stop saying that?” I hissed, leaning forward to press my hand against his mouth and stopping him before he could say anything else. “What are you going to do if someone hears you?” I felt him smile against my hand in response and I sighed, pulling away from him. “You’re absolutely incorrigible.”

“There’s nothing wrong with what I said,” he insisted, smiling widely when I threw him a look, “I was just stating a simple fact – why would that get you in trouble?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know the sheer size of your fan club.” I narrowed my eyes at him, “Some of those girls are vicious and I am _not_ going to be their latest victim.”

“Ignore them,” he said dismissively, stealing my essay away to read through it, even as I tried to stop him. “They’ll get the hint eventually.”

“Will they really?” My eyes drifted back to some of his fangirls who were less than impressed with his current choice of companion; me. “Especially with all of the special treatment you give them?”

Louis stopped reading through my essay and looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. Straightening up in his seat, he struggled to hide his amusement. “Are you _jealous, _Hill?”

“Why would I be jealous?” I mimicked his posture, sitting up straight in my seat. Crossing my arms over my chest, I untangled my feet from his, “I have a date this weekend.”

The amusement drained out of his features, tension filling his body. “I’m sorry, _what_ did you just say?”

“What’s the matter? Are you jealous, Weasley?”

“Oh, ha, ha, very funny.” He cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on mine. “You almost had me there for a moment.”

“But I was being serious – it wasn’t a joke.”

“How could –” It was extremely difficult to hide my amusement; this wasthe first time I’d seen him struggle for words. “Why would you even–”

“Yes?”

He let out a deep breath, regaining his composure, “Who is it?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

“Shouldn’t I know the person who’s attempting to steal my mate away from me?” he reasoned, “So who is it?”

“A Ravenclaw sixth year.”

“One of my dorm mates.” His mouth parted and I could see his mind begin to whir into action. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, I’d read about the jealous side of veelas and I really didn’t want to trigger that side of Louis. Perhaps– “Which one?”

“They’re a prefect,” I added cautiously. I had been tempted to drag it out for longer but suddenly it didn’t seem like such a good idea. It was better to play it safe.

“Jane Boot?”

I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes, kicking him in the shin. “Aren’t you supposed to be intelligent? You’re a bloody Ravenclaw! Who’s the other sixth year Ravenclaw prefect?”

“Oh.” The tension fled his body and he straightened up in his seat. “So, you’ve just assumed that I’ll agree to go on a date with you? You won’t ask me?”

“Did you ask me to be your mate?” I retorted.

“I’ll still go with you.”

“Like I knew you would.” I smiled slightly, “But I have to admit, I’m curious. What would have happened if I didn’t reciprocate the bond?”

“Then I’d have to convince you,” Louis answered simply, and I could see the mischief in his eyes. “You wouldn’t have lasted long Hill – I’d have used my appeal to break your defences and then gotten you to fall for me. We just saved ourselves a bit of time because you reciprocated the bond.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes in exasperation, stealing my essay back from him so I could make some final amendments to it. Louis didn’t even bother to pretend to be working as he sat watching me work. It was a little unnerving but if I showed him that, then he’d have made some form of infuriating comment about it. And it was more than likely to be some comment on how he had the ability to distract me from my work – which he didn’t have. 

“Do you know what I just realised?” he asked once I started to pack my things away. 

“That you’re not as handsome as you think you are?”

“We both know that’s a lie.” He took my bag from me, slinging it over his shoulder. “What I _did _realise was that you _were _lying that day – you do find me attractive. If you didn’t then you wouldn’t be my mate.”

“Merlin’s beard,” I threw him an annoyed look as he walked around to my side of the table. “Would you let that go already?”

“No way.” He shook his head, holding his hand out for me to take, “I’m going to hold that against you until we’re old and grey.”

I rolled my eyes but said nothing else as I slipped my hand into his.


	2. Epilogue: 7 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mum,” Louis called out as we emerged from the fireplace and I found myself bracing myself already. Reaching out towards Louis, I grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him close and he looked down at me with a smile, unknowing of the tension brewing inside of me. 

_7 YEARS LATER_

Shell cottage was home to Louis and his family and simply being there made him feel so completely comfortable; regardless of the fact that he had long since moved out of his family home. So he made a point of visiting home as often as he could and he took me along with him each time. Whilst it made him feel so comfortable, it did the very opposite for me. 

Every time I visited his family I couldn’t help but feel like I was undergoing the most intense interview possible. His family, his sisters and mother especially, were still trying to figure out whether my feelings for him were ‘real’ or whether they were a result of him being a veela. I tried to make an excuse each time Louis brought up visiting home and I knew that he thought something was up. It was for that reason alone that I had made no protest this time and accompanied him without comment – I didn’t want to cause any trouble with his family. 

“Mum,” Louis called out as we emerged from the fireplace and I found myself bracing myself already. Reaching out towards Louis, I grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him close and he looked down at me with a smile, unknowing of the tension brewing inside of me. 

Louis’ mother, at the sound of his voice, emerged from the living room and approached her son with a smile. The two conversed in French and I shifted on my feet, looking at the two women who followed after their mother. 

“What are they doing here?” Louis asked, clocking his sisters as they walked further into the room. 

“We took some time off work,” Victoire answered her younger brother and I didn’t need to look in her direction to know that she, and her younger sister, were watching me. “We can spend the weekend together as a family.”

The women in his family were beautiful, regardless of the veela gene and I couldn’t help but wonder whether they were secretly disappointed about Louis’ choice of girlfriend. No one had to tell me that I couldn’t hold a candle against his sisters, or his mother for that matter. I already knew that. 

“Louis,” his mother called out, “Why don’t you go and unpack? Dinner will be ready by the time you’re downstairs.”

Louis took my hand in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it, “I’ll just go and unpack for the two of us. Why don’t you stay here and talk to my sisters?”

“Louis –”

He grinned, “It’ll be good for you to get to know your sisters-in-law.”

“Did I say I would marry you?” I threw back, nudging him with my elbow. 

“You didn’t need to.” He pressed another kiss to my temple and I flushed red when Dominique cleared her throat. 

“Don’t worry about her Louis,” Dominique assured him with a smile, “We’ll look after her.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Louis said cheekily, throwing me a wink over his shoulder before he headed upstairs and towards his old room.

When I was left alone with the three women, I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Merlin, it was going to start any moment now. Louis’ mother shared a look with her daughters before heading into the kitchen and leaving me alone with them. Victoire smiled pleasantly at me and gestured for me to take a seat.

“Let’s catch up,” she declared, sitting down in the seat across from me. “You didn’t visit the last time that Louis came home?”

“I couldn’t,” I explained steadily, knowing that the interrogation was going to begin already. Merlin, 7 years on and they still continued to do this. “I was out of the country for work.”

“Of course, Louis did say something similar.” Victoire nodded, accepting my answer as Dominique joined her sister to sit beside her. “It was a shame, we were _so _looking forward to seeing you.”

_Oh, I bet you were._

I remained silent and said nothing. Dominique took over, clearing her throat again in order to get me to look at her.

“You don’t want to marry my brother?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Excuse me?” I furrowed my eyebrows in question; why was marriage popping up all of a sudden?

“I mean, you essentially said so just minutes ago,” she said, referring to Louis and my earlier conversation.

“That was a joke,” I protested quietly, looking between the two sisters, “He’s not actually considering marriage yet, he just said that to –” _to annoy me._

“Regardless, it appears that our brother is much more serious about your relationship then you are.”

I let out a quick breath, trying to restrain myself. But the self-control that I’d exhibited for over 7 years was ready to snap. Merlin, I _did not _need to listen to this. And this was just his sisters! His mother was worse and I’d have thought that she would have been easier to deal with. After all, _her _mother-in-law hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms in the beginning so I’d have thought she would understand. But it appeared that she was going to continue the tradition.

“We’ve been dating for 7 years,” I protested, rising to my feet, “How in Merlin’s name could you think that I’m not serious about our relationship? Or about Louis for that matter?”

There was a concerned call of my name and I watched the two sisters’ tense a little at the sound of Louis’ voice; they had hidden their dislike of me from their brother. Turning to look at Louis as he walked down the stairs, I felt relief fill my body. With Louis here, they wouldn’t say anything.

“Are you alright?” he asked, walking towards me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. He looked between his sister’s and me. 

“I’m fine, Louis,” I insisted, turning into him slightly. “Really.”

Scanning my face, he frowned, “You’re lying to me.” He looked back to his sisters, “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.” I nudged him, “Stop freaking out.”

He sighed, “What have I told you about trying to lie to your mate?”

“That it’s impossible to do,” I muttered as his sisters repeated the word mate in shock. 

“She’s your mate?” His mother asked appearing from the kitchen, mouth parted in shock. 

“Of course she is.” He looked between the three women in his family. “Merlin’s beard, you’re veelas too and you had no idea?”

“So this is serious then?” Victoire struggled for words, “She’s not just some girl who’s been confused by your veela blood?”

“Of course not.” Louis went rigid beside me and I sighed knowing that he’d put it all together, “That’s what you were talking about earlier; all this time – for 7 years – you’ve been acting that way towards her? Tell me that this is some sort of mistake, that I’ve got it wrong.”

They couldn’t say a thing. 

“Come with me,” he demanded, taking my hand and leading me up the stairs to his old room.

Shutting the door behind us, Louis sighed and sat down on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing into his hand.

“Louis,” I said gently, approaching him. “Forget about it.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” He looked up at me with an apologetic frown, “I’ve dragged you here with me for 7 years and they’ve been acting that way towards you the entire time? All this time I thought I was helping you join our family but –”

“Louis –”

“I’m sorry,” he apologised with another sigh, “You never said anything either. I should have seen it or –”

“It’s nothing for you to apologise for,” I insisted, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his back. “I swear.”

“Any other girl would have left straight away, but you kept coming back with me.” Taking my hand in his, he played with my fingers, struggling to believe it. “Why?”

“They’re your family Louis and I didn’t want you to fall out with them over me.” I leaned my chin on his shoulder, studying his side profile. “And besides, I’d have won them over eventually.”

“I don’t think I can stay here anymore,” he admitted, “Let’s go home.”

“No, stay here.” He went to protest but I gave him a look. “I mean it. I don’t want you to fall out with your family over this, let me handle it on my own.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Please?”

He sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of my head, “I just want to take you away from here.”

“I don’t think they’ll continue to be like that,” I admitted, looking up into his face, “When you told them I was your mate then they started to look at me differently. I think they’ll accept me now.”

“They should have accepted you earlier,” he protested, “It’s not fair that –”

There was a knock on the door before his mother peered into the room. Louis tensed beside me and I took a hold of his hand to calm him. This was exactly what I hoped wouldn’t happen. I had no idea how long it would take to fix Louis’ relationship with his mother and sisters but I would make sure that it was just as strong as it had been originally.

It would take a while, but we’d get there. 


End file.
